Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that New York Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System has found the Ichabod Crane Central School District is susceptible to fiscal stress. Ichabod Crane Superintendent Marie Digirolamo disagreed with the rating, saying it was the first year they have received any rating other than “no designation." She said, “Ichabod Crane Central School District will continue its long-standing practice of fiscally responsible and transparent budgeting and accounting to meet the educational needs of our students and community.” Digirolamo said the district is waiting on $4 million outstanding federal and state grant reimbursements and state aid, which caused the rating. Sixteen schools in the state were found to be under some level of fiscal stress, with Ichabod Crane the only local school on the list. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Lana Bellamy reports in the Times Union a state housing mobility program called Making Moves announced on Jan. 19 that it will expand its services to Orange, and Dutchess counties in the Hudson Valley. The program gives aid to Section 8 Housing Voucher Program participants to help them move to neighborhoods with higher-performing schools and lower poverty rates. The program, which began in 2020, is already in Buffalo, Westchester County, and on Long Island. Baaba Halm, vice president and New York market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, which runs the program, said, “The choice to move to improve your family’s quality of life should be one that is available to everyone.... We are thrilled to expand access to vital mobility assistance resources to residents of Tompkins, Dutchess and Orange counties and to help create a more equitable housing future for underserved communities.” The program helps with counseling, financial assistance, tenant and landlord education, and funds for home improvement and security deposits. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Efrén Hernández of Casa Susanna on Route 23B in Leeds is on the James Beard Awards 2024 Restaurant and Chef Awards semifinalist list. Hernández and the restaurant are known for their tortillas made in-house. Last year Esquire magazine had Casa Susanna on a list of Best New Restaurants in America, saying, “Nowhere on the East Coast will you have better Mexican food than what Hernández is cooking at Casa Susanna. His menu (the squash-blossom tetela, the mackerel al pastor, the tamal de chocolat) is a moan-inducing marvel." Casa Susanna is at Camptown, the former Carl’s Rip Van Winkle Motor Lodge, that spent $12 million on renovation and redesign. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

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Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson City School District approved a new three-year agreement with the Hudson Teachers Association on Jan. 23. The new contract runs until June 30, 2026, and includes a 2.75 percent salary increase in its first year for each teacher employed by the district. After that, union teachers get a 2.5 percent raise in 2025; and a 2.25 percent increase in 2026. School Board President Willette Jones said, "“This agreement deeply reflects the spirit of -HudsonTogetherWeCan and positions us to move forward collaboratively." Both the Hudson Teachers Association members and the board of education approved the contract on Jan. 23. Read more about this story at HudsonValley36.com..

Tiffany Greenwaldt-Simon reports for Columbia-Greene Media that many local residents turned out in Catskill Jan. 23 for a public hearing on a proposed battery storage facility. The proposed facility would be at a junkyard at 8006 Route 9W in Catskill. The junk would be removed, Justin Adams, vice president of permitting at Eolian Energy, said, and the northern side of the site they will place 136 containers with batteries made of lithium iron phosphate producing 100 megawatts of power over a four-hour period. Catskill Grid LLC, the company running the facility, is talking with Central Hudson to connect the facility to the power grid. Residents such as Colleen Gavigan of Catskill worried about the impact of the new business. Gavigan said, “I live in the house I grew up in, I know it’s a throwaway neighborhood, it’s industrial, but I don’t want it worse than it was. I just don’t want the neighborhood to get worse, and from my perspective it looks like it’s going to get worse.” Adams tried to ease the neighbors concerns, but admitted fans to cool the batteries would make some noise that could go as high as 57 decibels. The public hearing for the battery storage business remains open, and will be taken up at the next meeting of the town planning board at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that less than 17 hours before it was scheduled to consider proposed homegrown regulations, New York's Cannabis Control Board cancelled its January meeting. The board has been criticized for its slow rollout of legal cannabis stores, almost three years after the drug was legalized in the state. The Office of Cannabis Management said in a statement on Jan. 23 that, “The Cannabis Control Board … has decided to postpone the meeting to finalize review of adult-use license applications currently under consideration for approval by the board.... While we have a batch of licenses ready for approval, there are many more we want to get across the finish line to jumpstart New York’s cannabis market in 2024.” The statement from the board alleged the licenses were “held up by lawsuits from corporate interests” but the newspaper notes that, "much of the litigation that stalled the rollout was filed on behalf of individuals who felt jilted by the state's licensing rules." The board was expected to approve rules so New Yorkers can grown their own cannabis this growing season, and approve more retail licenses. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

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Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that one of the main routes into the City of Hudson floods repeatedly now, which is only getting worse with climate change. Route 9G/23B brings drivers from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge through wetlands that abut the Hudson River just before entering the city of Hudson. And the South Bay often floods the road during rainstorms. The Hudson River is tidal, so the flooding ebbs and flows. Greenport Highway Superintendent John Mausolf said, “If we get a heavy rain, a lot of times during low tide we’re fine.... There may be an inch or two (of water on the road), but when the high tide hits, it compounds the problem.” New York Department of Transportation workers often must redirect traffic from the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to an alternate route further west, where traffic can access Hudson via Route 9 because of the flooding. Recently Route 9G flooded during a Dec. 18 storm and during a rainstorm Jan. 10. The story says, "By 2080, the Hudson could rise 2 to 4 feet, according to the DEC, and as much as 6 feet by the end of the century. At even 3 feet of river rise, the Hudson could inundate the road on a daily basis even when it is not at high tide, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Level Rise Mapper." Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that protesters who want Rep. Pat Ryan to back a ceasefire in the war in Gaza repeatedly interrupted his speech at the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Jan. 24. Protesters waved signs outside of the event, and inside they shouted over his speech. Mid-Hudson News got video from the protesters of the interruptions. PLAY OR DOWNLOAD EXCERPT OF PROTESTERS YELLING. Pro-Palestinian protesters have regularly marched outside Ryan's Kingston office calling for a ceasefire. Republican Rep Marc Molinaro, from the neighboring 19th Congressional District, holds similar views of the conflict as Ryan, but is not seeing as many protesters at his events or offices. Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Heather Bellow reports in The Berkshire Eagle that birders in Western Massachusetts are excited by the spotting of two rare yellow- and black-breasted birds called dickcissels having a wintry layover in Ann-Elizabeth Barnes and Richard Meyers' yard in Egremont. The birds usually winter in Mexico, but Barnes, who is a member of the local Hoffman Birding Club, reported the sighting on eBird on Jan. 8 and Audubon on Jan. 13., and also to the local Hoffman Birding Club. Barnes said, “It’s a lifer for me,” of spotting the dickcissels, using the birder jargon "Lifer" that means you're seeing a bird for the first time. The Cornell Ornithology Lab at Cornell University says dickcissels are mostly found in “overgrown pastures, savannahs, and croplands in the central Great Plains,” and migrate to Mexico and Central and South America in the winter. One of the type of birds was sighted October 2021 at Linear Park in Williamstown, according to to Mass Audubon, which says they are a “regular but rare-to-very-uncommon migrant in Massachusetts.” Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

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Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that. Rep. Pat Ryan again said on Jan. 23 that Central Hudson should not get its rate approval request approved by the Public Service Commission. On Jan. 24, Central Hudson's proposed double-digit rate request went before an Albany evidentiary hearing. Before that, Ryan said in a statement, “Hudson Valley families are feeling the pressure of making ends meet – Central Hudson has absolutely no business raising rates, especially after years of systemic failures." Central Hudson is asking the New York Public Service Commission to increase electric rates by 16 percent and natural gas rates by 19 percent. The utility claims that would add roughly $1 a day to the “typical” electric customer and $1 a day to the “typical” natural gas customer. The Public Service Commission is not expected to decide on the rate increase until the second quarter of the year. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Rep. Elise Stefanik has had a week in national headlines. Salon reports Stefanik, who represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District, called the cancellation of the Jan. 22 trial proceedings in writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial against Donald Trump "blatant election interference." After a juror called in sick, the judge wanted to continue but Trump attorney Alina Habba asked for an adjournment. So Stefanik is calling Trump's attorney's motion to delay the trial "blatant election interference." Stefanik was also mentioned by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who spoke on Jan. 22 about Trump talking about her, after her name was floated as a possible vice-president. PLAY OR DOWNLOAD SHORT EXCERPT FROM JIMMY KIMMEL.

Brian Campbell reports for New York State of Politics that the National Endowment for the Arts has more than $8 million for nearly 300 grants to organizations across New York state, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced on Jan. 24. Wave Farm in Acra, WGXC's parent organization, is among the recipients. Wave Farm receives $25,000 towards its transmission arts residency and radio art fellowship programs. The Thomas Cole House in Catskill got $30,000 for various programs, the Hudson Opera House got $15,000 to "support multidisciplinary arts programming." New York Senator Chuck Schumer said, "Art, music, and the humanities, along with community organizations, cultural groups, and non-profits are the lifeblood of New York communities big and small. From the Thomas Cole House to the Buffalo Philharmonic, an investment in the arts is an investment in New York’s future, as both a tourist destination and a vibrant place to live." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

From WOOC: "Greg Silverman is the head of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, one of the most innovative and consumer-oriented emergency food programs in NY over the last 40 years. He joins Mark Dunlea of WOOC to discuss his chapter in the Handbook of Food Insecurity and Society, where he outlines the need to challenge the emergency food system, including collective advocacy for healthy food."

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Click above to download or play the "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media that the Town of Coxsackie Planning Board lost its appeal with the Town Zoning Board of Appeals to overturn Code Enforcement Officer Ed Pebler’s decision that the Gallivan Mine is in compliance. The story never says what, exactly, the mine is accused of, or what the problem is. Pignone does quote an email from Coxsackie resident Bek Andersen talking about a grandfathered mining permit in a residential-agricultural zone where, “The result is bordering on an environmental catastrophe, and they [Gallivan] are operating unchecked and without regard for the community they are affecting.” Albany-based attorney Andrew Brick represents mine owner Sean Gallivan and claimed the appeal lost on a technicality, saying, “The key was whether the planning board brought the appeal too late, and they brought it well past the 60 days.... It was too late and the appeal could not be sustainable.” The Gallivan Mine is the former Hillicoss Stone Quarry, after President and CEO Gary Hillicoss sold the mine to Gallivan in 2020. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Liz Montgomery reports in Porcupine Soup that, once again, a CSX crew was in Coxsackie at the train bridge over Mansion Street on Jan. 23 to “fix the leaking chalky gray substance in the west bound lane of the viaduct,” according to Village Mayor Mark Evans. He said the visit only came after “countless emails, phone calls, and two in person meetings.” Several years ago, a man, walking with his wife and baby in a stroller, was hit in the head with concrete falling from the bridge, with an ambulance taking him away for numerous stitches. Evans traces the problem back at least seven years, and last summer Sen. Chuck Schumer was trying to get the issue resolved. CSX previously said that the liquid leaking from the bridge was mud that had seeped into the structure. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.